


there is no war room

by fated_addiction



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal, Code Name: Sailor V
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Romance, all my feels, coda-ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-19
Updated: 2014-11-19
Packaged: 2018-02-26 07:59:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2644208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fated_addiction/pseuds/fated_addiction
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>"I don't like coffee." </i>  Minako, Usagi, and learning to catch a fall.</p>
            </blockquote>





	there is no war room

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for all the episodes ever. Playing with the idea, all the ideas really, of the Shittenou and awakenings and jazz hands. Okay, no jazz hands though. But sort of a coda, I guess.

"You _knew_ ," Rei explodes later, eyes wide and mouth open into more than just a snarl, her hands flailing out because she doesn't know what else to do. It's Usagi that steps between them; Minako doesn't need to look at her to know that she looks more than just the princess she remembers -- she's the smallest out of all of them, but stands with more weight than all of them combined. Her eyes are soft, sad. Minako feels her heart in her throat.

"I knew," she says.

They don't power down. Ami stands next to Makoto. The two of them are too quiet. It's Rei though, fierce and almost wild, that has her fists clenched at her side. She is trembling.

"Rei-chan," Usagi intervenes. Her fingers touch the other girl's cheek. "It's been a long night," she says too. "Go home --" Usagi nods at Makoto and Ami. It's Ami that steps forward with a faint smile. "Rest and we'll talk about this tomorrow."

Usagi touches her forehead. Her power down is almost gentle. The others, they follow and fade into just girls. Usagi brushes her hair out of her eyes and then steps back, next to Minako.

It's the end of the conversation.

Usagi offers her arm. Minako follows.

 

-

 

She has never walked through the city with just Usagi.

Tokyo is suddenly brighter. They cut through a busier street. It's after nine; Luna has taken care of classes and school. They've missed the work rush, she thinks, but Usagi still keeps her close. Her hand remains tucked into her arm, her fingers pressing into the crook of her elbow.

"Where are we going?" she asks, finally. Her voice catches. She clears her throat. "Not that I mind," she says quickly.

Usagi laughs. "Coffee," she says. "I suddenly want coffee."

Minako looks at her strangely. She feels odd. Usagi is changing. She might not realize it. Or maybe she does and she's choosing to say nothing. Serenity was the same, she thinks. She remembers. Endymoin was suddenly there just as fast -- bright and unforgivingly real.

"I don't like coffee," Minako blurts. She blushes too.

Usagi's hand slips into hers. She laughs again.

"There are pastries."

"You don't strike me as someone who likes bitter things." She's seen her consume sweets, even though Usagi is secretly very particular about sweets. She knows that she loves anything Makoto cooks. She also knows that she gets the same dessert at the arcade. All these things are filed away, dizzying reminders that she still has more to learn.

"I do," Usagi shrugs. She tugs Minako across the street. "But I only like particular things. Mama says I got that part from my father."

Minako can only nod. She remains alert. The street seems calmer. There are clumps, smaller clusters of people, and tourists. They wander. They're shopping. Usagi manages to weave them through, smiling and blending in with almost too much ease.

There is a small café at the end of the street though. There are flowers. The window display is bright too. She spots a student reading a book by the window. There is another couple on a date. She sees matching cameras and almost laughs, then kicks herself because she's suddenly overcome with such a feeling of longing. She has always thought about this, this moment, and the reunion with the girls and Usagi. A smaller part of her dreamed of _him_. She would be a liar if she didn't dream of him.

It still seems like it's _very_ Usagi, as if she really knew what _very_ Usagi means. She follows the younger girl still. Inside, Usagi forces her to sit by the window too. They both purchase drinks. Usagi puts chocolate in her coffee. Minako leans into the window and the warmth of the sun.

"Talk," she says finally, her fingers over the rim of her cup.

The crystal slips from underneath her blouse.

 

 

Minako cannot find the words.

She orders two pastries. Usagi ignores the offer for her own, so she's left to pick at the ones in front of her. She remembers something again: _Serenity was always patient_. It was more complicated than that too. Serenity was patient and calculating, calmer than the four of them; it's how she got to Earth more often than she should have.

Minako feels tired. "I'm terrified," she admits.

"Terrified?"

"We can't do this," she tells Usagi. She's pointed. "We can't protect you if we're not cohesive. I didn't mean to --"

"It came out anyway." Usagi shrugs. Minako knows she's right. She watches the other girl as she touches the crystal. "They're not angry," she says. She shakes her head. "It's just too much."

"Then what _are_ they --"

Usagi looks at her. Her eyes are too bright, too blue, and when she leans forward, Minako has to swallow when she sees flecks of silver. Her mouth closes and Usagi calmly reaches for her coffee.

"It's too much for all of us," she murmurs. "I still don't know how to wrap my head around Mamo-chan." Her gaze darkens and Minako trembles, looking down. But Usagi continues. "I can't wrap it around the fact that I saw a place that was my home in another life and then my _mother_ \--" her mouth twists and she sighs softly, "how am I supposed to be just a girl now?"

"Usagi-chan," Minako murmurs.

The other girl leans across the table and reaches for her hand. Her fingers are soft. She touches the inside her palm and Minako's heart is back in her throat. She's shaking. She doesn't know anything more than that. It feels like the threads of her sanity are threatening to come apart. But her hand still opens, her fingers falling back, and Usagi brushes a thumb over an old scar.

"Stop hiding," Usagi says.

Minako is bitter. "Easier said than done."

The Princess shakes her head.

"No one is telling you that you can't be angry," she says too. "Or sad. Or scared. No one is expecting you to hide that. You want me to let you protect me, Mina-chan? You have to let us protect you too. You have to let us in."

Usagi reaches across the table. Her hands brush against her face and maybe that's that, this is how, but there are tears and Minako hears some kind of sob break out of her mouth. It echoes and she's sure someone looks up; it doesn't matter because she's let something out. It might be small, it might not be enough, but Usagi is smiling. Her mouth opens and the younger girl shakes her head. It's between them, she doesn't say. We'll be okay, she doesn't offer. She just lets Minako have the moment alone.

They stay at the café all afternoon.

Usagi never touches her coffee.

 

-

 

Later he is waiting outside her apartment building.

If she is surprised to see him, she doesn't give herself time to show it. She feels like she should know that he was eventually going to come and see her. Of course, she thinks. Of course, _Serenity_ would reach him first. Her body tenses, the words are almost out -- until she notices that he is a man and only a man, hiding in nothing but a suit and a briefcase leaning against the wall. His arms are folded in front of him. His eyes are glued to her and for once, she's glad she's alone again.

Her fingers curl around the strap of her purse. "Kunzite," she says quietly.

"Venus."

Behind her, a car horn sounds off. She thinks she should've walked Usagi back home instead.

"I'm not going to ask why you're here."

His mouth twists. "I suspected as much." He pushes off the wall. "You were never one for any sort of finesse."

She takes a step back.

"New look?" she pushes instead.

He shrugs. She struggles with memories. They don't come; they remain in pieces. She loved him, she knows. It terrifies her, still, then, and now. Her heart clenches and burns and he's suddenly _too close_ , his hand clasping over her shoulder. He keeps her still.

"You're right," he murmurs, and his fingers spread to the back of her neck, pushing under her hair. Her eyes widen and she feels them pull through her hair. "You're right," he says again. "To be cautious -- you were like this too. Faster, smarter, and ten steps ahead. It drove me crazy."

She is looking at a stranger, she tells herself. Her guard is shaky. She wants to touch him. Something in her is _desperate_ to touch him, reassure herself, and end every single question that beats her mind. Usagi's question blares through her head over and over again: _how am I supposed to be just a girl now?_ She cannot reconcile any piece of herself.

"It's so like you to remember duty first," she says and her hand covers her mouth.

Her eyes are wide. He's smiling, almost. There are creases in the corner of his mouth. He leans in and his mouth brushes over her forehead and something inside her just _breaks_. She takes fistfuls of his jacket and can only hold him tightly. She doesn't remember how he smells. She doesn't remember how she feels against him. She doesn't remember how any of this is supposed to go.

She should kill him. She won't.

Minako opens and closes her mouth. Her shoulders drop. His hand moves from her hair and she shivers, pulling at the sleeves of her sweater.

"He's safe," he says, and then he's gone, almost as if he was never here. They remain in her head though. _He's safe_.

The briefcase stays against the wall. Her fingers touch her lip.

Minako remembers the warning first.


End file.
